Tag: Thanksgiving

KJ Martin welcomes Houston children to special Thanksgiving event

“It was great,” KJ Martin said of his Thanksgiving event for Houston children. “Anything with kids, I am one thousand percent for. Any chance I have an opportunity to give back, I am all for it.”

HOUSTON — The chatter inside the room full of young boys at the Urban Enrichment Institute increased when they received word the special guest they had been waiting for had arrived.

Standing outside the door was third-year Houston Rockets forward KJ Martin, responsible for the gift bags full of Thanksgiving food for the families of the 50 underprivileged young boys in attendance. As he made his way into the room, the young men began to show their excitement by cheering and clapping for Martin.

“It was great,” Martin said of the event. “Anything with kids, I am one thousand percent for. Any chance I have an opportunity to give back, I am all for it.”

Martin, 21, spent 30 minutes answering questions regarding his path to the NBA, what it is like playing against some of the superstars, as well as what it was being raised by his father, Kenyon Martin Sr., who played 15 seasons in the NBA.

“They asked me some great questions,” Martin said. “I am 21, but me being in this position, I feel like I have a good of knowledge to help them.”

The Urban Enrichment Institute is located in Fifth Ward. It helps economically distressed neighborhoods to overcome the urban problems of gang violence, drug abuse, high teen pregnancy rates, school dropout and crime. Some programs include graphic arts, financial literacy, robotics, photography/film, etc.

“It means the world to our kids and program,” said Keith E. Cornelius, executive director. “These young men see athletes and entertainers on TV and social media all the time, but to have someone come here who is so humble and personable as KJ, it makes their day.”

“They go home, and they talk to their friends and families about meeting a Rockets player, an up-and-coming superstar at our program,” Cornelius added. “This goes a long way because you never know what is going to be the trigger to take a young man to the next level.”

Martin has been a vital part of the Rockets’ rotation this year, averaging 10.9 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. His defensive presence helped Houston break a three-game losing streak on Wednesday in Dallas.

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The Lions announce Tauren Wells will perform the National Anthem on Thanksgiving

The Lions announce contemporary Christian artist Tauren Wells will perform the National Anthem on Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving marks the only national television appearance for the Detroit Lions in 2022. The annual Turkey Day game is always a big deal for the city, the team and the fans.

This year, the fans inside Ford Field will get another special guest singing the National Anthem prior to kickoff. Platinum-selling recording artist and 10-time GRAMMY Award Nominee Tauren Wells will perform the anthem.

Wells is a native of Battle Creek, Michigan, and has won numerous music industry awards.

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Get outside on Thanksgiving with these fun outdoor activities

Embrace the outdoors this holiday season.

Thanksgiving is almost synonymous with overeating and sitting around inside watching football. But you’ll probably enjoy the holiday even more if you get outside and move around a little. Whether you wake up early and go for a run or get the whole family out for a walk before the pumpkin pie, here are some ideas for incorporating the outdoors into your holiday. Depending on where you live, you might even have the bonus of gorgeous fall leaves. So, push away from the table. Step outside. Put one foot in front of the other, and breathe the fresh autumnal air.

Why it makes so much sense for the NFL to reportedly adding a Black Friday game to its future schedule

The NFL and Amazon are making a push for a Black Friday game

The NFL is gold when it comes to television ratings. People absolutely love their football — they can’t get enough of it.

They’ll eat it all up, whether it’s training camp, preseason rankings, or playoff games. So when it comes to the NFL as an organization, more is always better. That’s why the calendar has NFL football in some capacity, essentially, all year long.

Now, it’s looking to add even more, according to a new report from the Sports Business Journal. The NFL is reportedly going to add a Black Friday game to its Thursday Night Football schedule in 2023, per SBJ’s John Ourand.

The league already dominates Thanksgiving weekend with 3 different games on the holiday. They’d be looking to add an extra one here to strengthen that already tight grip.

Sounds like a lot, right? Let’s unpack this a bit.

Notre Dame heading to Bahamas for Thanksgiving weekend tournament

How would you like to spend Thanksgiving with the women’s basketball team?

We don’t know what will happen to Notre Dame this season. What we do know is the team will enjoy Thanksgiving dinner in a tropical paradise. That’s because the Irish are one of six programs to be invited to the 20th edition of the Goombay Splash in Bimini, Bahamas. The tournament begins Nov. 24, this year’s date for Thanksgiving, and ends Nov. 26 with each team getting either two or three games along the way.

The Irish’s first game will be played Thanksgiving against American, a first-time opponent. Arizona State awaits both teams regardless of the result because it plays the loser of the Thanksgiving game the next day and the winner the day after. George Mason and LSU face each other in the Thanksgiving game to determine who will play on which day.

If you have to be away from your family during a major holiday, it’s hard to pick against the Bahamas as a location. Don’t believe me? Let’s go back a few years and watch Central Michigan’s reaction to going to the inaugural Bahamas Bowl, which was held on Christmas Eve:

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Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

 

Biggest storyline for Vikings in every game against 2022 AFC opponents

There’s a story for every AFC opponent

With the NFL’s schedule release behind us, we have officially hit the doldrums of the offseason. Players are signing their rookie contracts, veterans still available are finding new homes and OTA’s are in process of beginning.

This is the time to start truly looking forward to the 2022 season. And it’s a pivotal one for the Vikings. They have put the franchise in the hands of Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O’Connell with the idea being they’ll elevate the team in ways Rick Spielman and Mike Zimmer were unable to do so.

This is the first of a three-part series where I dive into the main storylines of the Vikings opponents for the 2022 season. The first edition lies with the AFC opponents. The Vikings play the AFC East and the second place team in the AFC South.

2022 Schedule Release: Cowboys to host Giants on Thanksgiving Day

The latest schedule leak shows the Cowboys welcoming their NFC East rivals to Arlington for their annual Thanksgiving Day game. | From @ToddBrock24f7

The Cowboys already know they’ll be hosting Thanksgiving at their house once again this year. Now they also know who’ll be coming to dinner.

Several outlets, including the New York Post, are reporting just hours before the release of the full 2022 schedule of games, that the Giants will travel to Arlington this Thanksgiving to face the Cowboys in the annual late-afternoon holiday game.

The Post‘s Giants beat writer, Paul Schwartz, tweeted a photo of what he reports as the Giants’ full schedule. According to that post, the Giants and Cowboys will play in MetLife Stadium in Week 3 on Monday Night Football, with the Thanksgiving game being a Week 12 rematch.

Big Blue most recently played on Thanksgiving in 2017, when they lost to Washington. Their only Thanksgiving trip to Dallas, in 1992, ended in a 30-3 Cowboys win.

The Cowboys have not done particularly well with their traditional Turkey Day appearance. They’ve lost their last three Thanksgiving contests, but still hold a 31-22-1 all-time record on the holiday.

Dallas does, however, have a nice streak going against the Giants; they’ve won nine of the last 10 meetings between the divisional rivals.

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Watch: Brian Kelly appears in cringey LSU commitment video

What is he doing now?

I’m sure Danny Lewis Jr. will have a fine career at LSU. If nothing else, he will emerge as a better person for the lessons college football will teach him. For his own sake, that better be the case because if he flames out, this commitment video with Brian Kelly will be all he’s known for:

If it wasn’t completely obvious by now, and it most definitely was, LSU Kelly is nothing like Notre Dame Kelly. First, he suddenly decides to talk like he’s spent his entire life in the southern part of the country. Now, he decides he’s cool enough to act like an experienced TikTok personality who’s on the same level as the generation that eats up the content on that platform like a Thanksgiving turkey.

What exactly changed about Kelly after he changed jobs? Was Notre Dame too stuffy of an institution for him to put on this persona? Is LSU the right amount of hip for him? All I know is Kelly and Geaux Tigers Nation deserve each other.

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Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89